Whaling Museum Publications

Below is a list of titles published by the the Old Dartmouth Historical Society – New Bedford Whaling Museum. Copies of some of these titles are available for purchase through the Museum Store.

Featured Publications

A Spectacle in Motion: The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World, Vol 1&2 | Buy online
This two-volume publication dives into the detail and narrative of the Panorama and allows people to quite literally hold the entire artwork in the palm of their hands. Learn more

Dutch and Flemish Old Master Paintings in the New Bedford Whaling Museum | Buy onlineBy Dr. Stuart M. Frank, Senior Curator Emeritus
Apart from their technological interest and aesthetic appeal, these paintings bear silent testimony and aesthetic energy inspired by whales and whaling in the Golden Age. Learn more

O’er the Wide and Tractless Sea: Original Art of the Yankee Whale Hunt | Buy onlineBy Michael P. Dyer,Curator of Maritime History, New Bedford Whaling MuseumO’er the Wide and Tractless Sea offers a new perspective on American maritime history and whaling, hinging upon firsthand pictures both as evidence of a culture and as a representative details of the American whaling experience. Learn more

A Man for All Oceans: Captain Joshua Slocum and the First Solo Voyage Around the World | Buy onlineBy Stan GraysonAuthor Stan Grayson has been researching Slocum’s life for years and has uncovered primary sources that have yielded information to fill significant gaps in our understanding of Slocum’s life and voyages. Learn more

Around the World in Search of Whales: A Journal of the Lucy Ann Voyage, 1841-1844 By John F. Martin and edited by Kenneth R. MartinThis non-fiction book is a recounting of a 31-month whaling voyage aboard the whaleship Lucy Ann (1841-1844). It presents the personal account and illustrations of whaleman-artist John F. Martin. Learn more

Famine, Friends & Fenians Catalog
Beautiful full-color photographs reveal the detail of art and artifacts within the Famine, Friends and Fenians exhibition, while essays offer insight into the history of the Irish and Irish-American struggle for religious, social, cultural, political, and individual freedom. Learn more

Inner Light: The World of William Bradford Catalog | Buy onlineDedicated to Richard C. Kugler
A catalog accompanying the exhibition Inner Light: The World of William Bradford features essays by Dr. Christina Connett, and Trustees Barbara Moss and Keith Kauppila. It provides new insights into the artist’s work and influences and includes works not previously reproduced in earlier publications on the artist. Learn more

Classic Whaling Prints | Buy onlineBy Stuart M. Frank
As the repository of the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of whaling prints, our latest publication “Classic Whaling Prints”, showcases the benchmark masterpieces and most influential images of the past 400 years. Learn more

Treasures of the Whaling Museum: Touchstones to the Region’s Past | Buy onlineThis comprehensive keepsake volume illuminates the history and scope of the world’s largest museum dedicated to the global interaction of humans and whales. Learn more

A Genius at His Trade: C. Raymond Hunt and His Remarkable Boats | Buy onlineBy Stan Grayson
This is the first book-length biography of the American yacht designer and racing sailor whose skill at the helm and skill at the drawing board made him a legend in his own time. Learn more

Interwoven Luso-American stories of the Azorean, Cape Verdean, and Brazilian communities to the United States from early immigration in the 18th century through the latter half of the 20th century. Learn more

No Ordinary Being | Buy onlineBy Llewellyn Howland III
Published by David R. Godine in association with the Old Dartmouth Historical Society and Mystic Seaport Museum. Learn more

Benjamin Russell: Whaleman-Artist Entrepreneur | Buy onlineAn overview of Benjamin Russell’s artistic career from his voyage on the Kutusoff beginning in 1841 to his final series of lithographs and ship portraits in the 1870’s. Learn more

Xico | Buy onlineWritten and Illustrated by David Blanchette
Sail away on an adventure with Xico, a young Azorean boy who stows away aboard a 19th century whaleship. An educational and entertaining read for the whole family! Xico’s Journey Interactive

The Arctic Regions | Buy onlineBy William BradfordA landmark in the annals of American photography and polar adventure, TheArctic Regions: Illustrated with Photographs Taken on an Art Expedition was first published for subscribers in 1873. Now, with an introduction written by noted polar historian Russell Potter, Arctic Regions is available for the first time in a convenient and accessible format. Learn more

Art and Artifacts from the New Bedford Whaling Museum: Ship Models|Buy onlineBy Judith N. Lund and R. Michael WallMuseum catalog volume two includes representative models from the extensive New Bedford Whaling Museum holdings from early 19th century to the modern day. Learn more about the exhibition

Originally compiled in 1899 by Roxana Lewis Dabney (1827-1913) and the privately published for the family as “The Dabney Annals,” the American edition and preface by Maria Filomena Mónica with annotation and selection by Paulo Silveira e Sousa, sheds new light on the history of United States foreign relations.

By Stuart M. FrankIf the arts of the sea and the sailor hold any interest, this comprehensive survey from the best collection in existence will keep you enthralled and is surely destined to be considered the last word on the subject for decades to come. Learn more

Art and Artifacts from the New Bedford Whaling Museum: American Landscape and Seascape Paintings|Buy online

Published in the United States of America in 2010 by the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

David Wright’s research catalogues and describes in detail the 80 known etchings made by R. Swain Gifford between 1865 and 1891.

Lost at Sea: The Human Cost of FishingBy Don CuddyBeautifully printed by Reynolds-Dewalt in New Bedford, the booklet is a respectful and compelling telling of two fishing boat disasters of recent years: the Northern Edge in 2004 and the Lady of Grace in 2007.

American Offshore Whaling Voyages (Vol One & Two )

Volume One consists of voyages by vessel and Volume Two consists of voyages by master. American Whalers dominated 19th century whaling globally and the extensive records of this fishery provided the summary information presented here about more than 15,000 voyages.

Alphabetical Listing

Bernhard, Kilian. The Voyage of the Schooner Polar Bear: Whaling and Trading in the North Pacific and Arctic, 1913-1914. Edited by John Bockstoce. New Bedford, Mass.: Published by the New Bedford Whaling Museum by the Old Dartmouth Historical Society; [Anchorage]: Historical Commission 1983.

Kugler, Richard C. New Bedford and Old Dartmouth: A Portrait of a Region’s Past, A Bicentennial Exhibition of The Old Dartmouth Historical Society at the Whaling Museum in New Bedford, December 4, 1975 – April 18, 1976. New Bedford, Mass.: Trustees of the Old Dartmouth Historical Society, 1975.

Kugler, Richard C. William Allen Wall, an Artist of New Bedford: An Exhibition Held in Celebration of the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Old Dartmouth Historical Society at the Whaling Museum, New Bedford, Massachusetts, November 9 – December 31, 1978. New Bedford, Mass.: Old Dartmouth Historical Society, ca. 1978.

Old Dartmouth Historical Society. Images of Childhood: An Exhibition of Pictures and Objects from Nineteenth-Centuary New Bedford Held at the Old Dartmouth Historical Society, December 17, 1976 – April 2, 1977. New Bedford, Mass.: Old Dartmouth Historical Society, 1977.